A CONSERVATION SKETCH 301 



is approaching an end ; nearly all civilized coun- 

 tries have excellent and wisely devised protec- 

 tive bird-laws, laws which are improved every 

 year by the governments which make them (Italy 

 also is working to produce a code of such laws) ; 

 and the mass of people are becoming educated to 

 what birds are worth, financially and otherwise. 

 Birds have been found to be a national asset. 

 They will therefore be saved. If they are able to 

 hold their own and thrive in civilized communities, 

 — ^regions which ordinarily mean death and de- 

 struction to wild life of every kind, — they certainly 

 will survive in territories inhabited by savage 

 peoples — a thing they have accomplished since im- 

 memorial time. 



